The UCF Knights are 9-7 on the season but have dropped its past three contests to UConn, Rutgers and SMU. The three losses helped give the Knights a 1-4 record in AAC play. Tonight, the Knights travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats in AAC play. College basketball oddsmakers at 5dimes favor the Bearcats heavily, setting the line 14.5-points in favor of Cincy.

It is the first of three tough AAC games for the Knights, who joined the conference this season. Following this matchup, the team will face No. 23 Memphis and then No. 12 Louisville, before taking on in-state rival USF. The Knights could be under .500 that time, barring an unexpected upset.

UCF is led by the quartet of Isaiah Sykes, Calvin Newell, Tristan Spurlock and Kasey Wilson. The four combine to average 50 points per game, exactly two-thirds of UCF’s total scoring output. Sykes, a 6’6″ senior swingman, does a little bit of everything and leads the team in scoring (15.4 points), second in rebounding (6.3 per game) and leads the team in assists.

Cincinnati has won its past ten games and has not lost since Dec 14 (against Xavier). The Bearcats are 6-0 in AAC play and will have a crucial showdown against Louisville on Jan 30th.

Sean Kilpatrick is the leading scorer for Cincinnati with 18.6 points per game. The 6’4″ senior guard has averaged 18 points per game over the last five, and he’s hit 11 three-point field goals over that span. In the 69-58 victory over Temple on Jan 14, Kilpatrick attempted 13 threes (hitting six) en route to 23 points. Though he is shooting just 33.1 percent from behind the arc on the season, Kilpatrick averages 7.3 three-point field goal attempts per game.

UCF Trends: 3-7 ATS in last 10 Thursday games; OVER 11-5-1 in last 17 road games.

CIN Trends: 7-1 ATS in last 8 home games; 41-10 in last 51 overall; UNDER 39-14 in last 53 at home.